Sliding Doors
What if one split second sent your life in two completely different directions?
1998 | 99m | English
Popularity: 2 (history)
| Director: | Peter Howitt |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Peter Howitt |
| Staring: |
| Helen, a London ad executive, is fired from her job and rushes out to catch a train, but, as she runs down, her life suddenly splits off. In one version she catches the train; in the second, she misses it. Her whole life changes in that one second, and the rest of the film depicts what happens in each scenario. | |
| Release Date: | Apr 23, 1998 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Peter Howitt |
| Writer: | Peter Howitt |
| Genres: | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance |
| Keywords | london, england, ex-girlfriend, in flagranti, fate, tube, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, parallel lives, parallel story, alternate timeline, what if, publicist, fired from a job, parallel layers of reality, romantic |
| Production Companies | Paramount Pictures, Miramax, Intermedia Films, Mirage Enterprises |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $58,809,149
Budget: $6,000,000 |
| Updates |
Updated: Feb 03, 2026 Entered: Apr 13, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Gwyneth Paltrow | Helen Quilley |
| John Hannah | James Hamilton |
| John Lynch | Gerry |
| Jeanne Tripplehorn | Lydia |
| Zara Turner | Anna |
| Douglas McFerran | Russell |
| Paul Brightwell | Clive |
| Nina Young | Claudia |
| Virginia McKenna | James' Mother |
| Kevin McNally | Paul |
| Theresa Kartell | Rachael |
| Christopher Villiers | Steve |
| Terry English | Kind Cabbie |
| Paul Stacey | Man on Tube |
| Peter Howitt | Cheeky Bloke |
| Joanna Roth | Suspicious Girl |
| Neil Stuke | Defensive Bloke |
| Evelyn Duah | Receptionist |
| Linda Broughton | Theatre Nurse |
| Pip Miller | Consultant |
| Barry Lee-Thomas | Local MP |
| Vivienne Soan | Nurse |
| Alex Reid | Waiter |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Peter Howitt | Director, Writer |
| Jill Taylor | Costume Designer |
| Remi Adefarasin | Director of Photography |
| Maria Djurkovic | Production Design |
| Alex Bailey | Still Photographer |
| David Hirschfelder | Original Music Composer |
| Beth Sterner | Sound Editor |
| Tina Earnshaw | Key Makeup Artist |
| Simon Thompson | Key Hair Stylist |
| Richard Whelan | First Assistant Director |
| Bob Hollow | Special Effects Supervisor |
| Helen Caldwell | Stunt Coordinator |
| Michelle Guish | Casting |
| Laura Lovejoy | Dialogue Editor |
| John Smith | Editor |
| David B. Cohn | Sound Editor |
| John Finklea | Music Editor |
| Anita Camarata | Music Supervisor |
| Sam Walsh | Foley Mixer |
| Martyn John | Art Direction |
| Alf Tramontin | Steadicam Operator |
| Ceri Evans | Script Supervisor |
| Jeremy Gee | Camera Operator |
| Sara Desmond | Second Assistant Director |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| David Wisnievitz | Co-Producer |
| Guy East | Executive Producer |
| Nigel Sinclair | Executive Producer |
| William Horberg | Producer |
| Sydney Pollack | Producer |
| Philippa Braithwaite | Producer |
| Sandy Poustie | Associate Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 23 | 36 | 15 |
| 2024 | 5 | 27 | 44 | 13 |
| 2024 | 6 | 24 | 32 | 17 |
| 2024 | 7 | 23 | 38 | 12 |
| 2024 | 8 | 49 | 157 | 16 |
| 2024 | 9 | 20 | 37 | 14 |
| 2024 | 10 | 22 | 47 | 11 |
| 2024 | 11 | 26 | 85 | 11 |
| 2024 | 12 | 19 | 38 | 12 |
| 2025 | 1 | 20 | 28 | 13 |
| 2025 | 2 | 14 | 20 | 3 |
| 2025 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 2025 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 2025 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| 2025 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| 2026 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2026 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Trending Position
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 9 | 884 | 922 |
Well made romance-drama featuring nice performances from Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah. I've seen this a few times over the years and still holds up (outside of the dated technological items). Also was an interesting concept which kudos to Peter Hewitt pulled off. **3.75/5** ...
I remember all the fuss about this film at the time because it was directed by blonde heart-throb Peter Howitt, famed as “Joey” from the hit BBC sitcom “Bread”. Ha also wrote the screenplay and the concept is really quite decent. “Helen” (Gwyneth Paltrow) leaves her boyfriend “Gerry” (John Lynch) in ... bed and races for a tube. The doors are closing but will she make it or not? Well in one version of her future she does and in another, she doesn’t. One sees her befriend the charismatic “James” (John Hannah); the other sees her struggle on with her relationship with a man that we know, right from the start, is having a relationship with the delightfully dislikeable “Lydia” (Jeanne Tripplehorn). Fortunately, Miss Paltrow sports different hairstyles to help us distinguish between her characters as serendipity - benevolent and malign - offers us two shapes to her life that overlap occasionally but leave us in no doubt that “Gerry” is a selfish ass and that “James” is the type you’d want to take home to meet mum. The problem for me was that once we had got the two stories up and running, they became just a bit too soapy. Of course it would never have worked had all gone smoothly, but the grenades thrown in to disrupt love’s young dream and even love’s young treachery are all just a bit too predictable. That said, though, I did quite like the way the last five minutes were structured to mix the conclusion with a little déjà vu. It’s a film about choices, some informed and some not and it’s also about trust and how easily it is to betray and manipulate in a relationship where trust is assumed but not deserved. Hannah probably has the best of the gentle humour and there’s just enough of that; some energetic rowing and even some sexually-charged brandy-swilling to keep it watchable.